page_title: Mushaf Ali Mir
section_title: Death in the air crash
hierarchical_section_title: Mushaf Ali Mir / Death in the air crash
context_page_description: Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir NI, HI, SI, SBt. was an influential statesman and a four-star air force general who served as the Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force, appointed on 20 November 2000 until his accidental death in a plane crash on 20 February 2003.
  A fighter pilot and a strategist, he briefly served at command level in the ISI before controversially promoted as a four-star air officer to command the air force in 2000. In 2001-02, he also commanded and provided the strategy to deploy troops during the military standoff with India. In addition, Air Chief Marshal Mir later went onto facilitate the United States military's war logistics for war operations in Afghanistan. His appointment was cut short when a former PAF Fokker F-27 in which he was a passenger crashed near Kohat, Pakistan.
  His death has been subject of numerous conspiracy theories with many American authors charging him of having advanced-knowledge on terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.
context_section_description: On 20 February 2003, Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir boarded on a Fokker F-27 aircraft operated by the Air Force, alongside with his wife and 15 senior air force officers from Chaklala Air Force Base for a routine flight to Northern Air Command based in Kohat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan to review the U.S. military's war logistics in Afghanistan.
  The plane lost contact from its military radars at the Northern Air Command and crashed after hitting the highest peak of the mountain at the Tolanj mountain range in Kohat due to an extreme fog and winter temperature. Among the casualties were other high-ranking officials of the Pakistan Air Force, including two Principal Staff Officers – Air Vice Marshal Abdul Razzaq, DCAS (Training&Evaluation) and Air Vice Marshal Saleem Nawaz, DCAS (Administration) – and the air crew.
  Upon his accidental death, the Pakistan government give him a state funeral, with many foreign dignitaries attending his funeral and was buried in Mominpura cemetery in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
  The Air Force Flight Safety and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ruled out the "act of sabotage" and termed the incident as an accident. Additional inquiries in 2015 resulted by the air force and civilian investigations, the Government declared the aircraft as faulty, not an act of sabotage.
  Further military insights revealed at the parliamentary committee noted that the aircraft was in fact faulty as it was earlier identified by first the Navy's inspected team as early as in 1993. The Navy purchased the aircraft for its reconnaissance missions before it was transferred to Army Aviation in 1993, which then transferred the plane to Air Force in 1994, which never reviewed the inspection protocol to assess the performance of the aircraft.
  Reactions
   United States: American ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Jo Powell expressed her sorrow and grief over the tragic air crash on behalf of the United States.
   Iran: Iranian President Syed Mohammad Khatami convened a message to President Pervez Musharraf saying: "While expressing condolence and sympathy to Your Excellency as well as the noble people of Pakistan, I pray to Almighty Allah for forgiveness and Divine blessings for the deceased, and patience and fortitude for the survivors."
   Afghanistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent a cable where he noted: "On behalf of the people, government of transitional Islamic state of Afghanistan and on my own behalf, I would like to express deepest sorrow and condolences to Your Excellency and to the families of the victims and to the brotherly people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan."
   India: Indian air chief Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy conveyed sympathies on behalf of the Indian IAF and his own behalf on the sudden and untimely demise of Mushaf Ali Mir.
   Pakistan: Foreign Minister K.M. Kasuri termed the death of Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir a great loss for Pakistan and its military, and he quoted: "We have lost one of our great sons and a fine soldier; he was an outstanding soldier and his services to Pakistan will always be remembered."
caption: A civilian PIA Fokker F27 in flight, a similar but military Fokker F-27 that was involved in crash in 2003.
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